What Can Go Wrong If You Don’t Follow Your Spine Surgeon’s Post-Op Instructions

Spine surgery is a major step in helping decrease pain and increase function in your spine, but it’s only one important aspect of your recovery journey. Perhaps the most important part of your rehab are the weeks that follow your surgery. This will be a crucial time when healing is taking place, strength is being restored and mobility is slowly being improved. This period is also crucial because you need to follow your surgeon’s individualized care recommendations in order to make the best recovery. Failing to heed their advice can not only limit your recovery, but it can actually cause major issues for your overall health. Below, we spotlight some of the things that can go wrong if you don’t follow your surgeon’s post-op care instructions.

Ignoring Your Spine Surgeon’s Advice – What Can Go Wrong

Here are just a few of the ways that problems can arise after your surgery if you don’t follow your doctor’s post-op care instructions.

• Surgery Fails – If you don’t follow your doctor’s advice when it comes to movement limitations or lifting restrictions, you could overload your spine when it’s in a weakened state. This can cause spinal hardware to shift or even break, and that could cause your entire surgery to fail. Physical limitations aren’t put in place to make you miserable during your recovery, they are there because your body has been significantly impacted by the trauma of surgery. Stay within your activity restrictions so that your original surgery doesn’t end up failing.
• Infection Onset – Your surgeon will also give you specific instructions for how you should manage a surgical incision site. If you don’t do a good job cleaning and caring for your surgical site, an infection can set it. This can cause your surgery to fail or other major health issues if the infection worsens. Infections can develop even when you work hard to avoid them, but they are much less likely to occur if you follow your surgeon’s post-op care instructions.
• Delayed Recovery – Your post-op recovery guidelines are not only designed to help you avoid a setback during rehabilitation, they are developed to help you make the strongest recovery possible. If you ignore recommendations like in-clinic physical therapy or home-based exercises, don’t be surprised if your recovery is slower than you had hoped, or your overall function is not as complete as expected. Keep your recovery on track by following your rehab plan.
• Dependance And Addiction – Your doctor will also ensure that your post-op care instructions carefully explain how to safely take any painkillers or medications that have been prescribed to limit pain and discomfort that you may be experiencing after your operation. If you aren’t careful with how you take these strong medications, it’s possible that you can end up abusing them or developing an unhealthy dependence on the drug. It’s very important that you follow your doctor’s instructions for safely taking medications.
• Blood Clots – Finally, there is a good chance that your doctor wants you to be active and mobile within reason after your surgery. While you’ll want to be protective of your spine, movement and controlled activity can help blood circulate properly and reduce your risk of developing a blood clot tied to inactivity. Talk with your doctor to learn more about how you can lower your blood clot risk after a spinal procedure.

Follow your surgeon’s post-op advice, and you’ll be giving yourself a great chance to make the strongest recovery after your spinal procedure. For more information, or for help with a specific back issue, reach out to Dr. Sinicropi and the team at The Midwest Spine & Brain Institute today at (651) 430-3800.

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